Sept. 17, 2010

Final Stats

ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University volleyball team won their first match this afternoon at the TCU Nike Invitational, beating UAB in straight sets 25-23, 25-19 and 27-25.

"I like how hard our team is competitng right now, especially in set three," Head Coach Ryan Theis said. "Down and facing match point a couple of times and then fighting back and winning it, really showed the resiliency of this team."

Sue Jacobi had a match-high 13 kills and Faith Robins had 11 kills on .429 hitting. Michelle Jantsch had five kills and hit .455, while Katie Post had eight kills and Meryl Bender notched 14 digs.

The first set was tight throughout with the score knotted 13-13 and Ohio actually trailed late, 21-20. The Bobcats would respond however and a kill from Mandy Nichols won the first set, 25-23, for the Green & White.

In the second set, Ohio led 14-10 and 20-16 before a Post kill ended the match, 25-19 in favor of the Bobcats. At the break, Post had eight kills and was hitting .375, while Robins had eight kills and was hitting .538. The Bobcats accumulated ten blocks and Bender had accumulated nine digs.

"Katie stepped up during the first two sets and performed really well, both offensively and blocking," Theis added. "Faith played well down the stretch, the last two sets, and put us in position to win. We also had some nice pick-ups from the back row by some off-blocker defense, and again, that put us in position to win the match."

The Blazers came out in the third set and took an 8-4 lead and still led at 18-15 and 24-21. Ohio responded with a match-ending run taking six of the final seven points and Jacobi's kill won the third set 27-25.

"UAB played really hard and we knew we were in for a battle," Theis said. "So to show the resolve and effort we did and come away with a straight-set win, I'm very pleased."